Skip to content

Category: Uncategorized

Published on Leave a comment on The Two Hottest Days On Earth Were This Week

Uh-oh. The Earth is really warming up, and very rapidly. Sunday was the hottest day recorded globally. But then... Monday was even hotter! This means that in the space of several days, two global records were set in two days.

And it will continue to get warmer (hotter) in the coming months and years. We do know what is causing this climate change of increased global warmth - it's the burning of fossil fuels (e.g., gas, oil, coal). The big question - can humans change their ways?

From The New York Times, the Climate Newsletter: Earth’s Hottest Days Ever

Twice this week, global temperatures broke records, but scientists are more concerned about a longer-term pattern of hotter weather.

This past Sunday was the warmest single day ever recorded, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union-funded research organization. That is, until Monday, when global temperatures inched up a bit more. Then Monday became the hottest day in modern history, with an average global temperature of 17.16 Celsius or 62.88 Fahrenheit. Tuesday was almost as hot. ...continue reading "The Two Hottest Days On Earth Were This Week"

Published on Leave a comment on Carbon Dioxide Levels In Atmosphere Keep Rapidly Rising

It shouldn't be a surprise to read that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are surging and accumulating faster than ever. In May, it surged to 427 parts per million (426.90 ppm) - while in 1960 it was about 320 ppm.  It's depressing, and it doesn't bode well for our future.

These high levels of carbon dioxide are a major driver of the record-setting heat we've been experiencing in recent years. Carbon dioxide is the gas that accounts for the majority of global warming (yes, climate change) and is caused by human activities. The human activities are burning of fossil fuels, such as gas and oil - in vehicles, coal-fired plants, large industrial operations, ships, airplanes, rockets.

Graph of carbon dioxide levels increasing Credit: NOAA

Excerpts from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration): During a year of extremes, carbon dioxide levels surge faster than ever

Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever — accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence, scientists from NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego announced today. ...continue reading "Carbon Dioxide Levels In Atmosphere Keep Rapidly Rising"

Published on Leave a comment on Denialism and Cover-up At Manufacturer Of Forever Chemicals
3M Company Credit: Wikipedia

Forever chemicals are in the news all the time now. A very interesting and well-researched article was recently published by the investigative journalism site ProPublica about Kris Hansen, a chemistry PhD who worked at 3M company. Initially, as part of her job in 1997, she documented that forever chemicals (PFOS, PFAS) were showing up in everyone's blood - both workers at the company, as well as people outside the company. Animals also. But then her work was suppressed, her bosses at 3M convinced her the chemicals were safe, and she continued working there for years.

Also... she was sidelined by her bosses after her initial findings, her job became more limited at the company, and finally she moved to a different area of the company (medical devices). Yet for years she told her husband and herself that the chemicals were safe. Only in 2021, after watching a John Oliver segment on TV about forever chemicals, she finally googled PFOS. But she only left the company in 2022 (after 26 years) when her job was eliminated.

One interesting part to me was - How did she rationalize doing nothing and continue working there for decades? She knew it was appearing in everyone's blood, there was research (animal and human) available showing it caused harms, and yet.... she chose to believe what management was saying (it's safe), stayed silent, and basically buried her head in the sand. Didn't want to know...

Yes, I've seen this elsewhere - when interacting with people in higher level white collar jobs in the pesticide industry. Their salaries are good, their jobs depend on denialism and ignoring scientific research, and so they spout the industry line of "it's safe"..."nothing is proven". So it continues...

A few excerpts from ProPublica: Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe

The next morning, anxious to see the results, Hansen arrived at the lab before anyone else. For the first time since she had begun testing blood, some of the samples showed no trace of PFOS. She was so struck that she called her husband. There was nothing wrong with her equipment or methodology; PFOS, a man-made chemical produced by her employer, really was in human blood, practically everywhere. ...continue reading "Denialism and Cover-up At Manufacturer Of Forever Chemicals"

Published on Leave a comment on Learn About Forever Chemicals In Films and Videos
Dupont Chemical facility in Delaware Credit: Wikipedia

Reading studies or news reports is not the only way to get information about the dangerous "forever chemicals" (PFAS chemicals) that are found in basically all of us. Some films and videos are also excellent sources of information.

There is a very good legal thriller film called Dark Waters (released in 2019, official trailer, now on Netflix), an investigative documentary The Devil We Know (official trailer, now on Amazon), as well as short videos such as that produced by NRDC (PFAS: The Toxic Forever Chemicals Crisis) and PBS News Hour (Why PFAS are so impervious, and who is at most risk from the forever chemicals).

Attorney Rob Billot

The film Dark Waters is based on a true story. In it, attorney Robert Bilott (played by Mark Ruffalo) jeopardizes his career to expose Dupont's toxic chemical waste dumping scheme (of forever chemicals used in Teflon), the harms they caused (including deaths), and of corporate greed and corruption.

In 2019, Robert Billot's book (Exposure) about his battle with Dupont Exposure was also published.

Harmful PFOS chemicals, are commonly referred to as forever chemicals because they persist in the environment and accumulate in all of us, where they cause all sorts of health harms, including cancers, decreased fertility, liver damage, thyroid disease, impaired immune system, abnormal fetal development. They even go to the brain! The chemicals are found in many products that we are exposed to daily (e.g., non-stick pots and pans, grease-proof packaging).

Published on Leave a comment on Climate Scientists Are Very Worried About Our Future

The world is heating up quickly and climate scientists are very worried and scared about what's in our future. A recent survey conducted by The Guardian finds that climate scientists are very pessimistic about our ability to limit future temperature increases.

By the way, this past April was the 11th straight month of global record-breaking heat, and it looks like this trend will continue. Most of the scientists surveyed felt that we will blow past the internationally agreed 2.7 degrees F and will hit at least a 4.5 degrees F increase in this century. Almost half thought there would be a 5.4 degrees F increase.

This uncontrolled temperature increase will result in catastrophic changes for the world. Famines, mass migrations, heatwaves, wildfires, extreme storms! It's on us, especially our governments, to take action. Now!

Excerpts from The Guardian: World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target

Hundreds of the world’s leading climate scientists expect global temperatures to rise to at least 2.5C (4.5F) above preindustrial levels this century, blasting past internationally agreed targets and causing catastrophic consequences for humanity and the planet, an exclusive Guardian survey has revealed. ...continue reading "Climate Scientists Are Very Worried About Our Future"

Published on Leave a comment on Welcome To Global Weirding

There's a new word that describes all the weird weather we've been having recently. It's global weirding. It describes the weird weather extremes that we've been experiencing - for example, the extreme heat in Arizona last summer (more than a month of over 110 degrees F), extreme wildfires (Canada last year), extreme torrential rains.

All sorts of weather records are being broken each year. This weird and extreme weather is occurring because our climate is changing. Thomas Friedman described global weirding years ago. He wrote in the NY Times:

"Avoid the term “global warming.” I prefer the term “global weirding,” because that is what actually happens as global temperatures rise and the climate changes. The weather gets weird. The hots are expected to get hotter, the wets wetter, the dries drier and the most violent storms more numerous."

From Discover: As Weather Extremes Increase in 2023, Global Weirding Becomes a Better Term

While temperatures in Phoenix soared above 110 degrees Fahrenheit for a record-shattering 31 straight days in July, people began turning up in emergency rooms with third-degree burns they’d suffered after falling — their skin seared by blistering hot pavement. Although not unprecedented, burn specialists said the number and severity of injuries were much higher than ever before. ...continue reading "Welcome To Global Weirding"

Published on Leave a comment on Earth Just Had Its Warmest March

Once again, another month had record warmth. March 2024 was the warmest March on Earth. And it's the 10th month in a row that set global heat records  (since June 2023). Yikes!

Ocean warmth has had 11 record-setting months in a row. Meanwhile, scientists are divided over whether climate change (and warmth) is accelerating or all this record warmth month after month is in line with climate change predictions.

The big question: What will summer heat be like?

From The Weather Channel: Earth's Warmest March Is 10th Straight Record Month, Just-Released Data Shows

March was E​arth's warmest on record, according to preliminary data, the latest month in a stretch of heat records since the planet's hottest year in 2023. ...continue reading "Earth Just Had Its Warmest March"